Eye of the Beholder
by Fearless.Stargazer
Summary: Why is Myrtle always so sad? What lead up to that shocking moment when she looked into the Basilisk's eyes and died? How did Tom Riddle find the Chamber of Secrets? I hope to answer these pressing questions :  Moaning Myrtle/Tom Riddle
1. Chapter 1

It was a perfectly normal day in the castle. The students were all in their classrooms learning, the teachers teaching, the ghosts spooking. Boys cockily flung spells at one another, and girls gossiped in the backs of classrooms. At the front of one particularly filled classroom, Professor Dumbledore had begun to doll out ravens and frogs for the latest transfiguration lesson, cautioning the students to be careful as the animals had a taste for human flesh. The class laughed good naturedly as Dumbledore gave a small frog pointed teeth with a flick of his wand. Nothing out of the ordinary at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Alright, students, when performing the glitter spell, you merely wave your wand like so," he waved his wand in a clockwise circle before stabbing the air twice, "and uttering aloud the incantation _lucidus_. This will cause the animal to gain a glittering sheen to its skin or feathers. Be careful, now, Miss Janette."

The whole class turned to the blushing Louisa Janette, who sat covered from head to toe in a glittering layer of skin. She glared angrily at Mateo Crowler, the class genius, who smirked at her as he twirled his wand through his fingers.

Dumbledore smiled at Louisa, and then at Mateo.

"Thank you Mr. Crowler, for performing an almost flawless _lucidus_ spell. I'll ask you now to reverse it and to change our lovely Miss Janette back to normal since it appears that you can mange on your own without my instruction." Although Dumbledore's tone had never changed from that of one carrying on a politely interesting conversation, a layer of ice seemed to have flashed through the air, and Mateo turned even redder than sparkly Louisa. He muttered a quick apology as Dumbledore rolled up the sleeves of his robes and returned his attention to the class at large.

"Now, the counter-spell is simple…" He began, the twinkle in his blue eyes growing brighter as he had Mateo reverse the spell on Louisa and then cast it again on every member of the class as the students giggled and glittered.

However, one student was neither glittering nor glittering. She sat slumped against the back wall of the classroom, spectacles slipping down her thin, pale nose. She had messy black bangs and two braids on either side of her head. It was clear that she would be considered quite pretty if it were not for the sad and angry look that wrinkled her features-not to mention the dark circles under her red, cloudy eyes.

Professor Dumbledore beamed as his students attempted to cast the new spell on to frogs, onto ravens, and onto fellow classmates. His twinkling eyes swept the room until they came to rest on the sniffling be-spectacled girl sitting in the back.

"Miss Myrtle, wouldn't you like to try out the spell on your frog?" He asked kindly, zooming a frog towards her from the front of the room.

She looked up nervously and then glanced over towards a table of girls who were eagerly casting spells on their animals.

"I suppose…" she said in a barely audible voice.

"Wonderful!" said the Professor, hurrying towards the back to help her.

"Now-just wave your wand like I showed you!" He watched as she carefully twirled her wand and muttered the incantation. But instead of covering the frog a glittering sheen, she ended up turning the professor a particularly bright shade of blue.

"S-s-sorry, I-" She stammered as Dumbledore cut her off.

"Oh how thrilling! Sometimes we try to do one thing and something different and spectacular happens instead! Let this be a lesson to all of you-life can throw you surprises, not everything can be planned and perfect. You may even find yourself to be delighted and surprised by the result of your mistake!" He smiled round at them all, revealing navy blue teeth.

"Now, Mr. Crowler, the counter curse please!" Dumbledore marched off towards Mateo, beaming all the while.

Myrtle put her head down on the desk- she messed up simply _everything!_

The group of girls sitting at the table to the right of her snickered.

"Inept little nuisance." Whispered one girl loudly, glancing indiscreetly in Myrtle's direction. "Messes up a perfectly interesting lesson with her inarticulate bumbling when it comes to even the simplest of spells…" The speaking girl was lean and tall with shiny brown hair that tumbled down her back in a waterfall of luster. She had cute dimples and freckles that made her the envy of every girl at Hogwarts, even the older students. She sat atop the desk, dangling her wand as she flicked the glittering spell lazily at her frog.

"I'm going to name you Myrtle." She said loudly, staring at the frog. "I bet you can cast simple spells and brew potions. I don't even have to tell you to croak." The gaggle of girls surrounding her giggled themselves silly as Dumbledore (with random patches of blue blotching up his now semi-normal skin) returned to their area of the classroom.

"Girls," He began pleasantly, "I'm going to have to ask you to stay after class with me today."

The pretty brown haired girl went silent. "You mean like for a detention?"

"Some may call it that…" Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "But I would prefer to think of it as a whole hour of time during which we may get to know each other better. The professors here rarely get to spend time being updated on the latest styles of music and fashion trends. What an enriching hour we shall have!" Dumbledore strode back up to his desk and sat down (still smiling) as the class chaotically threw more glittering spells around him.

"I can't stay after today!" the girl whispered dramatically to her friends from behind her hands, "I'm almost completely certain that Tom wanted to ask me out to the next Hogsmead trip today!" She threw herself down onto the desk while her friends muttered sympathetic words and patted her softly on the back.

Myrtle slumped further down in her chair, attempting to cover the blush that had flung itself across her face at the mention of a certain Tom Riddle. Tom was constantly intertwined with her thoughts. His presence at the school demanded notice, yet he was never arrogant. He was smart, charming, and quite handsome with his ruffled brown hair. He was simply amazing.

The girls giggled and sighed and gossiped. They abused myrtile alittle more and then returned to their Riddle talk.

Dumbledore finally released the class and de-glittered the recipients of "accidental" spells. Myrtle hurried out of the room, head down and books clutched tightly to her chest.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she turned the corner and into the corridor where she spent free periods. It was always empty-well almost always empty, anyway. For as Myrtle looked up, she say a tall robed figure with dark brown hair standing with his hands pressed against a wall about a meter or so in front of her. Myrtle's breath caught in her throat as she realized who the boy was and she stumbled over a bottle of ink that had been left on the floor (probably by Peeves). She fell to the ground, covered from head to toe in blood red ink. Her books flew all about the corridor and the glass of her spectacles shattered, the frames coming to rest upon the feet of the dark-haired Tom Riddle.


	2. Chapter 2

Riddle smiled handsomely as he stooped over to pick up the glasses frames.

"Are you all right?" he asked, offering his hand to the girl who was slumped on the floor, covered in red ink.

"I-I-I think so." Myrtle took his hand, instantly feeling a shot of electricity course through her veins.

At the same time, Tom seemed to feel a jolt go through him as well. Nervous that the girl might be trying to curse him, he almost dropped her back onto the floor. Reluctantly, though, he helped her to her feet and then quickly stepped a pace away, suddenly and strangely nervous. Tom looked down at her curiously, and then took out his wand.

_Curious_, he thought silently, pondering over his sudden apprehension. For Tom was never nervous. Whether it was students or teachers, he had all the right charms to get him through anything. To ease the sudden tension and break the moment of silent staring, Tom swept his wand around the spectacle frames and muttered a spell. Instantly, the thousands of fragments of glass gathered themselves neatly into their previous state of matter. He fit the two shiny slabs of glass into the frames and muttered a quick sticking charm to keep them in.

Myrtle watched silently, drenched in the red ink which smelled horrible and absolutely _nothing_ like the way ink should smell. She shifted her weight from foot to foot awkwardly as she watched the dazzling Riddle fix her spectacles.

He looked up at the girl and speechlessly caused the ink to pour itself back into the ink bottle, sealing the top.

_Accio! _He thought as the ink zoomed into his palm. The books gathered themselves neatly on the floor at his feet. Gathering himself mentally, he decided to use formality and charm to get rid of the girl. He needed to get back to his work and try out his new theory.

"I hope you can forgive me." Tom said in an even voice, betraying neither remorse nor regret.

"F-for w-what?" Myrtle looked up as Tom handed her the repaired glasses.

"For the ink." He smirked, but not in a happy way. He looked a bit less human as he let a small smile flash.

"I did not know anyone would be coming this way. Hopefully I did no more than temporarily damage your clothes and spectacles…"

"Now if you will excuse me, I must be getting on my way." And with that, Tom Riddle turned and stalked off. The burning need to return to the area at once and to continue his investigation of the area was staunched by the need to prevent raising any suspicion. Besides, he had a reputation to keep up, and girls seeing him with his hands pressed against walls muttering complex, century-old spells would no doubt think him off his rocker.

He turned the corner and then dashed through one of his favorite secret passages that brought him to the dungeons. He raced through the dark stone catacombs of the castle until he came to a rather lavish tapestry that bore a rendering of a bearded man riding on the head of a huge serpent.

Tom took his wand and whispered, "_Sectumsempra minima."_ Creating a tiny cut in his arm. He watched as the red blood bubbled out of the gash and streamed down his pale white arm. He pressed the bloody arm against a worn brick next to the tapestry and instantly the glittering jeweled snakes intertwined on the torches on either side of the tapestry's eyes glowed brightly.

"_Heshasa has kiasha sha shikiahas."_ He breathed. _Open for the heir of Slytherin._

The tapestry rolled itself up, and the wall behind it faded into gray until it was gone. Tom stepped up into the square passageway and began to crawl as the tapestry dropped into its previous position, throwing him into total darkness.

"_Lumos."_The chamber was lit by Riddle's wand as he crawled. He passed thousands of mosaic pictures and designs. Some depicting stars and heavenly bodies, others showing snakes and serpents devouring human prey. Tom laughed humorlessly as he passed one of his favorite mosaics. A beautiful blue-green serpent with golden eyes that was saying _"Shakai ashaha sheiake" _Kill the dirty blooded. Kill the wizard traitors. Kill the mudbloods. Riddle crawled deeper and deeper into the depths of the school, until he saw a tiny light at the end of the passage. Slowly, he pinprick grew brighter until he came to a square golden door with a tiny window, bearing the Slytherin crest. A golden serpent knocker extended from the door. Riddle knocked seven times with the knocker before pulling his hand back at once as the snake lunged, fangs extended, to bite him. When it could not reach, it returned to its original position, saying in parseltongue, "_To enter the chamber_ _Descendent of Slytherin you must be. Give me proof of your bloodline or I shall draw they blood. Turn back or thee shall never again see thy sun."_

_ "Behold-the stone of Slytherin. The blood of Slytherin." _Tom rubbed his ring into his still-bleeding arm and then threw the ring into the serpent's extended mouth. The serpent answered "_Enter young Slytherin. The secrets and glory of Slytherin shall be yours." _

The gilded door and its serpent disappeared, leaving the bloody ring lying in the doorway. Tom hastily rubbed the ring against his robes to clean it and then healed his cut with his wand. He jumped down into a spacious chamber, the excitement that always came when he was recognized as the sole heir of Slytherin bubbling in his chest.

The chamber was large and richly decorated. As it was once Salazar Slytherin's personal study, Riddle could not have imagined it to be any other way. The walls were draped with tapestries depicting Slytherin's triumphs, green and silver hangings, and paintings of serpents and of the first few classes of students to be sorted into the Slytherin house, and golden serpents that hung from the walls so that they looked as if they were wriggling towards the ceiling.

Riddle bolted through the room and through a door into another chamber. He doubted that he had discovered even a quarter of the secret rooms that connected to the original study. But he knew himself to be the only descendent of Slytherin at Hogwarts.

Riddle entered the library, a room with a high ceiling that was filled with bookshelves. Riddle had once scoured the rows and rows of books, looking for the books that he would use to make himself immortal. Although some titles were so old that they had been lost to history all together, Tom had been able to find the answers he had sought for. The Horcrux books he had piled lovingly on a mahogany desk that sat waiting for him in the corner of the room, behind the Potion books section.

Riddle dashed to the desk and pulled out what he viewed as the most valuable book in the whole school, the small leather bound book that Slytherin had written himself. The cover bore the words _"Shiashakia shak hsiah Shihihiashe." _The Chamber of the Serpent.


End file.
